


Day Two Hundred Sixteen || Walk a Mile

by 365daysofsasuhina



Series: 365 Days of SasuHina 2019 [216]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-31 19:34:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20120518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/365daysofsasuhina/pseuds/365daysofsasuhina
Summary: At times she wonders what their world would be like if everyone could walk a mile in Sasuke's shoes. What would they learn? What would they no longer take for granted?





	Day Two Hundred Sixteen || Walk a Mile

Sometimes she wonders what it would be like if people actually took the time to consider the circumstances of Sasuke’s experiences as a whole. Sure, there’s hardly a soul who doesn’t know about the Uchiha massacre...and ever since Itachi’s pardon, there’s little excuse in not knowing the truth behind it.

But even now - after all he did to save their world, and attempt to fix a broken system that brought about the near-genocide of his bloodline - people still think he overreacted. Still think he’s a bastard criminal that only wanted to kill and cause chaos...but that couldn’t be further from the truth!

If only people who thought it wise to badmouth him would walk a mile in his shoes...maybe then they could appreciate what he wanted to accomplish.

She sees it when they go out together. The dirty looks, the frightened glances, as though they expect him to just..._explode_ at any moment.

...even some of their classmates still look at him like that.

He confided to her once how much it annoyed him: making him feel like little more than an explosive tag one spark of chakra away from going off. When, in reality, he was doing his damndest to just...get back to normal now that the council had been taken care of, and his clan has been given justice. Or, at least...partially.

She never saw him that way. Of course...she was also given a bit more insight than some of their peers.

...and yet…

Naruto and Kakashi - and soon after, Sakura - were made privy to the truth behind the Uchiha massacre before the fourth war. Were told of how the village itself sanctioned the elimination of an entire clan, all put upon one of their own’s shoulders...with Sasuke left alive because Itachi couldn’t bear to kill his little brother. The entire affair was twisted and cruel...and people seem to underestimate the effect it had not only on the Uchiha brothers...but the village as a whole.

And to see that so utterly disregarded by them - still doggedly determined to drag him back to the place of his clan’s decimation, without plans or offers to help him find justice - honestly made her furious when she was made to connect the dots. No wonder Sasuke had such strong distaste for his team…! Their blindness to his suffering and need for retribution...their insistence that he had to return because it was what _they_ wanted…

And they call themselves his friends…?

Granted, Sakura (and many other girls) always viewed him in a rather...shallow light. But to do so after learning all she’d learned…? And _still_ claim to love him, even while ignoring and downplaying his trauma, and the orchestrators behind it…?!

...no wonder he snapped at her.

Naruto, too, never said a word about exonerating Itachi, or at least bringing the rest of the council to justice. Ensuring such archaic and barbaric policies would never happen again. Sure, he and the rest of team seven jumped aboard the plan to do so, but only _after_ it was suggested (or perhaps demanded was a better word) by someone else. If not for her...would anything had ever happened? Any charges brought forth, any power stripped, any justice done? Or would Sasuke have been left to simply swallow all he knew, all that had happened...all to spare the village any discomfort or distress?

...it made her _angry_.

Granted, many of these finer details were lost on her when they first met again after the war. She knew only of Itachi’s role, and the council’s: specifically Danzō. It was only later, when she and Sasuke became closer, that he revealed all of this to her.

And it took _him_ calming _her_ down not to march up to Naruto and Sakura both and demand _what the hell they were thinking_.

And Hinata is _not_a confrontational person. But gods...Sasuke had suffered enough! Endured enough! He didn’t need the reason he was fighting to be buried by his team...people he should have been able to trust implicitly, as Hinata trusts her team...as Ino trusts hers, and Tenten.

But that betrayal - having genocide _ignored_just because they wanted to drag him ‘home’...it boiled her blood.

Needless to say...she avoided the pair for a good long while after that. Partly because she didn’t want to speak to them...but mostly because she couldn’t trust herself not to confront them.

Sasuke ensured her there’d be other ways the pair would make up for their mistakes.

“For now...I don’t want anything to do with them,” he’d admitted bluntly. Something that, in the past, she’d failed to understand, and even chastised him for. But those revealing truths had yet been hidden then. “They’re both wary of me, anyway. Right now all I want is some peace and quiet...and gods know that’s not a strong point for either of them. They need to stay the hell away from me and do some thinking about what they did, and how they acted. Maybe sometime later we can reconvene, talk things out...but the wounds are still too fresh on both sides to even bother trying to reconcile.”

“...I understand. That’s very...mature of you. To just...take a step back, and let things cool. I don’t know if I could do that, standing in your shoes.”

That had earned a small flicker of amusement across his face. “I saw how pissed you got. It was endearing, in a way.”

“W...what?”

“That you were so passionate about it. Not many people bother to see things from my point of view...from my clan’s point of view.”

“Well, how could I not? I mean…” She’d gestured in a sign of frustration. “The council took _generations_ of subtle abuse and bias against you, and your clan’s want for retribution for that...and decided that _genocide_ was the answer? What if the Hyūga had been the clan to start to make waves? Would we have been wiped out, instead?”

“Madara was the instigator...and Tobirama’s bias only made things worse. Once Hiruzen was in charge, it had been building too much to be ignored. But what brought it to a head was Obito attacking with the Kyūbi. Suddenly we were all suspects in a huge plot against the village. But despite our insistence we had nothing to do with it - _and we didn’t_ \- their minds were already made up. We’d been Konoha’s scapegoats since the beginning...so when we finally decided to demand change? To be cleared of crimes that weren’t even ours? They’d rather just wipe us out than listen. They knew we’d be too much of a challenge to take head on. So they had one of our own strike us in the back. They used Itachi’s pacifism and split loyalty against him. He was the perfect tool to use...and Shimura knew it.”

“...and now there’s barely anything left,” she murmured, painful sorrow in her eyes. “And it would have been only you...if not for Itachi’s revival, and Shisui having been in hiding for s-so long. But now…”

“Now, it’s we three. And my niece and nephew. Only a few embers, but...I hope enough to keep the flame from dying. Not completely.” Looking contemplative for a time, he’d then admitted, “...you know...I don’t want the Uchiha to be a clan anymore.”

“W-what?!”

“I don’t mean I want us to go extinct. More like..gently fade into obscurity. I have my family. And given it’s just us three men left...our blood is going to quickly dilute. And I’m...okay with that. Maybe that’s the best ending for us. To just quietly disappear as our blood thins. No more curse of hatred, no more being used for our powers...just focus on being happy, and being at peace, rather than maintaining a bloodline that’s been so miserable for so long. Y’know?”

Wide eyes had blinked in surprise...and then softened in understanding. “...I think I do, yes. Maybe you’re right. It would be v-very difficult to keep the clan going as it is. It would take a l-lot of family planning to avoid too much inbreeding.”

“Which was a bit of a problem to begin with,” Sasuke admitted.

“It’s true, all the clans suffer from it at least partially. But I think...that’s a trend that’s starting to fade. Lines are crossing, and I think that someday...clans _will_ be a thing of the past.” A small pause. “...admittedly...I’m not sure how I f-feel about that. My clan also has a very dark part of its history...maybe that, too, is best left to fade with time. But I also love the better parts of it. I guess...we’ll just have to see how the die cast, ne?”

“Yeah, probably. I don’t even know if I’ll have any kids. And Shisui’s not exactly looking for that sort of thing either, from what I can tell.”

“You...you don’t…?”

He’d perked a brow at her. “...guess I can’t say for sure. But as of right now...I don’t have any solid plans. I’m young. I’m still changing. And that too might change. For now...I’m just taking things one day at a time.”

“I...I see. I think...that’s a good way to be.” Still, she glanced a bit aside, just a hint of pink in her cheeks.

...one day at a time.

**Author's Note:**

> Tiiired~
> 
> A wee bit of introspection with Hinata. At first, before she knows ALL there is to know about the massacre, she does get a bit frustrated with Sasuke's dismissal of his team. But once she learns? Oof, she gets mad. As we all should for Sasuke's sake. So many people write off his experiences, and thus his actions. But Hinata isn't about to.
> 
> But uh...yeah! That's all for tonight - thanks for reading!


End file.
